Country Newcomer Julianne Hough's Debut Single Climbing the Charts

Julianne Hough, 19, became a household name in the United States after winning two Mirror Ball trophies on the televised dance competition "Dancing With The Stars." As VOA's Mary Morningstar tells us, Julianne Hough is now proving that she's also a talented Country singer.

Julianne Hough grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. At age 4, she began singing in her family's Country band, White Lightning. After studying dance in London for five years, Julianne returned home to the U.S., and decided to pursue a singing career. But, last year, she put her music career on hold once again while competing on seasons four and five of Dancing With The Stars. Julianne made a third appearance this year, but was eliminated in the fourth week.

After leaving the series, she headed to Nashville. Julianne says the first thing she had to do was find songs that would keep her from being stereotyped.

"There were some songs that were all about dancing that I got," she said. "And I'm like, 'You know, as much as I love the song I kind of just want to separate the fact that I'm a dancer from a singer and maybe later on incorporate it a little bit more. So, I got a lot of dancing songs."

Julianne recorded Dreaming Under The Same Moon as a duet with her brother Derek Hough. Like his younger sister, Derek is a world champion dancer and choreographer.

Julianne's album sold enough copies to enter the Country chart at Number One and the Billboard 200 at Number 3. She was vacationing in Mexico when she got the news that her album became the biggest first-week seller by a new Country artist since American Idol finalist Kellie Pickler's 2006 debut release.

Julianne says it's important to keep a positive attitude, and she hopes her story shows others that dreams can come true.

"For me, I think if anybody really believes in themselves then they can really make anything happen," she said. "I mean I haven't read the secret or whatever, but I've heard about it and it's true. I've made goals from when I was like 10 years old, 'I'm going to be a singer by the time I'm 19.' It's so crazy. Everything has happened the way that I've wanted it to. I kind of feel like the stars are in line. But, you make goals, you set your heart and your mind to it and you just do it. You don't think about the negatives. So, what I want is for people to listen to the music and say, 'She did it and if I want that I can have it too.' Maybe not necessarily singing or whatever, but anything."

Julianne will be opening shows for Country star Brad Paisley on his 42-date U.S. concert tour.

The first single from her debut album, That Song In My Head, continues its climb up the Country charts this week.